China tensions spur Albany council’s sister city fears
A WA town may sever ties with Linyi amid concerns the relationship could lead to ‘influence and interference’.
A town on Western Australia‘s southern coast will consider severing ties with its Chinese sister city amid concerns from some councillors that the relationship could lead to “influence and interference” in its affairs and “pressures to sovereign integrity”.
City of Albany councillor Thomas Brough will move a motion later this month proposing that the town “respectfully conclude” its sister city relationship with Linyi, in China’s Shandong province.
A report prepared by Dr Brough and distributed to councillors in recent days, and obtained by The Australian, details what he says are the risks presented to Albany as a result of its China relationship.
“China has been engaged in economic warfare with Australia since 2020 and political warfare since the mid 2010s. This form of conflict is unfamiliar to many citizens of Western democracies but will be easily recognisable to those familiar with the Marxist-Leninist-Maoist modus operandi,” the report says. “To effectively counter and defeat CCP influence and interference there is a need to expose such operations to the intense sunlight of public scrutiny.”
Dr Brough’s report said sister city relationships had been used by the Chinese Communist Party to help enable foreign influence.
Albany established its sister city relationship with Linyi – a city of more than 10 million people roughly halfway between Beijing and Shanghai – back in 2014. The relationship, however, had been largely dormant up until a recent meeting between the Albany council and a delegation headed by the Chinese Consul-General of WA, Long Dingbin.
Dr Brough attended that meeting and told The Australian he had emerged with concerns about the issues of interest raised by the Chinese delegation.
The delegation, Dr Brough said, had shown particular interest in Albany’s airport, which is wholly owned by the City of Albany but which is in need of a $30 million upgrade of its tarmac. The visitors also made inquiries about the Chinese-owned Ferngrove Estate winery near Albany, the fish stocks in Albany’s waters, and the region’s minerals potential.
The delegation also presented an invitation to the councillors to visit a food and wine expo in Shandong next month.
Dr Brough, who also works as an emergency department GP and who was formerly an Australian army reservist, said the delegation had pursued a line of questioning including gathering information about Chinese-Australian run businesses in Albany.
“It was like the Wallabies coming out of a hard pre-season training and lining up against the Albany under-12s touch footy team, and absolutely annihilating the locals,” he said.
“They were professional diplomats plying their statecraft, and we were the amateurs.”
He said many businesses in and around Albany had been hurt by trade restrictions China introduced in 2020.
“That behaviour was just bullying,” Dr Brough said. “And if a bully snots you one, and then afterwards you say, ‘oh, don’t upset the bully or he’ll punch us again’, that’s the wrong attitude,” he said. “I think we just stand up to bullies and say ‘no, play by the rules’. And if you’re going to do this, we’re not going to take it lying down.”
Albany mayor Dennis Wellington – who was in the role when the 2014 sister city relationship was established – told The Australian he was seeking advice from the WA Local Government Association about the protocols and possible implications of ending the connection.
He said he was unsure what dismantling the sister city connection would achieve, given it was already effectively dormant.
“It’s surprised me that it’s come up, because I didn’t think it was that relevant in the scheme of things,” he said.
The mayor played down the significance of the meeting with the Consul-General, noting that the town had similar engagements with delegations from the likes of Japan, Malaysia, Indonesia and The Philippines.
“That’s what they do to fill in their time, they wander around the state and say hello to people,” he said.
Another councillor, Chris Thomson, said he planned to second the motion.
Mr Thomson boycotted the meeting with the Consul-General and said the town should carry out a broader review of all its sister city relationships.
He said many sister city relationships around Australia were of questionable value and historically had been used as cover for “bilateral junketeering” by local councils.
China is WA’s largest trading partner by a considerable margin due to its demand for iron ore from the Pilbara.
Its economic ties to Albany, however, are comparatively limited.
Albany was the first white settlement in WA, with its history dating back to 1826. It occupies a significant place in Australia’s military history as it was the last port of call for ANZACs departing Australia during the First World War. It was also once a thriving whaling town, and today is the main regional centre on WA’s southern coast.
Read related topics:China Ties